Children’s Story Misunderstandings: Opportunities for Fostering Inferential Thinking and Teachers’ Adaptive Responsivity

• In Event: The Powerful Role of Adaptive Expertise in Scaffolding Story Comprehension Skills in Young Children

Abstract

Theoretical Framework
The ultimate goal of reading instruction is to enable students to comprehend texts; however, many children have consistently fallen short of this goal (NCES, 2025). Efforts to support early reading have targeted decoding skills and oral language, especially vocabulary. Emerging research has begun to examine listening comprehension, especially in narrative contexts. Although oral language strongly affects early listening, and later reading comprehension, storybook reading interventions during the preschool years have not typically prioritized developing comprehension skills directly. Lack of attention to story comprehension per se when reading to preschoolers may reduce the overall impact of interventions on later reading comprehension, because good story comprehension requires additional skills, most importantly inferential reasoning.

Preschoolers also benefit from comments and explanations that include inferential reasoning. From causal explanations from adults or co-constructed explanations, children understand connections between characters’ behaviors and mental states (Laible et al., 2013; Slaughter et al., 2007), engage with conceptual information (Amsterlaw & Wellman, 2006), and use evidence in reasoning (Luce et al., 2012).

Research on teacher-child interactions in story reading (Author; Lepola et al., 2023) and other literacy contexts indicates that higher quality feedback (i.e., more conceptual and inferential) is associated with better literacy outcomes in young children (Mashburn et al. 2008). Feedback with explanation is more supportive of learning than corrective feedback alone (Clark, 2010; Fender & Crowley, 2007; Siegler, 1995). Reasons for correct answers must be made explicit (Clements et al., 2000). Preschoolers’ capacity to benefit from similar exposure to inferential prompts and talk that includes causal information, explanations, feedback on errors, and evidence is enormous.

Objectives
We explored children’s story misunderstandings as a vehicle for supporting inferential thinking because teacher feedback about misunderstandings can vary on a continuum from literal/factual to inferential/conceptual. Examining the quality of teachers’ responses to children’s errant thinking holds promise for helping teachers use high quality language – feedback, explanation, and evidence - to nurture develop children’s inferencing abilities.

Data Sources
Data come from an intervention study of the quality of educators’ responses to preschoolers’ misunderstandings in read aloud sessions during a multi-year professional learning project undertaken to support children’s language, literacy, and thinking.

Methods
Participants were teachers and children in 10 Head Start classrooms in an urban city in the midwestern US. Teaches participated in a multi-year professional learning experience (PLE) that included university coursework, coaching, and implementation of an early language and literacy curriculum, including whole group read alouds of picture books. Videos of reading were transcribed and coded for misunderstandings and the quality of teachers’ responses using a researcher-developed measure (author).

Results
From 80 readings, 532 misunderstandings were identified, suggesting misunderstandings are common. Over 50% of teachers’ responses were coded as low quality (i.e., lacking causal explanations, evidence, or explicit feedback). Examples of low-and high-quality language as well as implications for improving responses to children’s misunderstandings will be discussed.

Significance
Equipping teachers with the knowledge and practical skill for responding well to misunderstandings is an important step toward creating effective interventions that support inferential thinking in young children.

Authors

• Molly F. Collins, Vanderbilt University

• Joanna Rydberg, Vanderbilt University